


How to Make Friends in Five Easy Steps! (Results May Vary)

by lvcoloredmagic



Series: Magical Girls' Crusades [2]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, First Meetings, Gratuitous Gay Thoughts, Pre-Relationship, Witchcraft, occultism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8457691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvcoloredmagic/pseuds/lvcoloredmagic
Summary: You’re sure she could curse the shit out of you... which only makes you more interested in her. Having someone to talk to about those kinds of topics, magic and spirits and astral travel and whatever else? Honestly a dream come true. The fact that she’s absolutely adorable is just an added bonus.----Obviously, the best way to befriend cute girls is to approach near-strangers in the library, write sigils on their papers, accompany them to an exorcism, save their life, and then invite them to hang out the following night. At least, that's what Marisa hopes.[This is a prequel but works as a standalone story as well, with no knowledge of the main series fic necessary.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A closer look at the events given in chapter 4 of "3 Excellent Reasons to Set Up Wards Before You Summon", though probably capable of standing on its own. This time, it's from Marisa's perspective; she's honestly a delight to write.
> 
> Teen rating for liberal swearing.

The first thought that crossed your mind as you watched the girl you’d just ran right into walk away, heading off to class, was probably something along the lines of "God _damn_ I am gay". You’d seen her before, sure, around campus, and there was that time you gave her one of your old textbooks because she was crying in the school bookstore and you have totally been there and done that.

But _damn._ You’d thought she was cute in your previous encounters with her, but seeing her up close is on an entirely new level, you’re not even sure how to describe her. She’s absolutely _adorable,_ but she also has a more refined, almost ethereal beauty to her beneath that. Even bumping into you distractedly, her movements had a graceful quality to them, and the way she carries herself gives off an aura of confidence that combines so well with her grace.

...You’ve been thinking about this girl for too long, you realize. Class is almost over, making that an entire ninety minutes of gay thoughts. Not a new record, but still impressive. Oh, well. It’s certainly fun to daydream about that girl, about going up to her and actually talking to her, befriending her… you’re not getting your hopes up about dating her, though. She’s probably straight; you think she’s a religion major, too. Though… you had gotten a glance into her bag as she shoved her books inside, and generally conservative folks around here don’t carry protective amulets with them, at least not in your experience. You probably have a chance to befriend her, especially if you can find a way to bond with her over the arcane. You’re reasonably certain she’s not a witch, you don’t really get that feeling from her, but you don’t think she’s someone you’d want to be getting on the bad side of nonetheless. A girl like that, with that kind of awe-inspiring beauty, and with that kind of thing in her bag? You’re sure she could curse the shit out of you... which only makes you more interested in her. Having someone to talk to about those kinds of topics, magic and spirits and astral travel and whatever else… just the thought of it excites you. Sure, you could try to talk to people at the local metaphysical shops, but your practices are just too _out there,_ apparently, for those folks. Having someone your age who doesn’t fall into that category (at least, you hope she doesn’t) to talk to? Or someone at all? Honestly a dream come true.

The fact that she’s absolutely adorable is just an added bonus.

Yeah, you know what? You’ll do it! You’ll try to go talk to her. It’s just a matter of finding her and thinking of something to say, right? You can do this, you’ve never been terribly afraid of socializing. It’ll be great.

 

…

You can’t bring yourself to do it. Whenever you see her, it always seems like a bad time to approach her. You don’t want to have a lot of people around, this being a university means it’s more _open-minded_ than a lot of other places, but talking too loudly about the occult in public is still rather risky. And she never seems to be alone! She’s always moving with crowds of other students, blending into their ranks. Plus, even if you could get her alone, you have no idea what to say! How do you even introduce yourself? “Hey, I’m Marisa, I’m a witch and I kinda noticed you might be into some of the same stuff that I am, so what’s up?”

Ugh. This is going to be harder than you thought.

 

You see her in the library one day, alone in a corner working on something, probably studying. This is your chance! You can go over there, offer to help her study, to quiz her or something. Lie and say you’re studying too, pull out a chapter review from one of your physics classes. It’s the perfect plan. You just have to hope she doesn’t tell you to fuck off.

Taking a seat beside her at the table, you glance over at the book she’s so focused on, and are more than a bit surprised to see a handwritten text, a journal or perhaps a grimoire, written entirely in Japanese. You are not all that good at the language (who the hell around here speaks Japanese? You have no way to practice) but after a couple of minutes you’ve gotten a pretty good idea of what she’s doing.

Before you can even think about it, you reach over and sketch a sigil into the margins of the page, one of your own works. She looks at you with a combination of shock and anger and _fuck_ , you need to explain yourself fast.

“If you’re doing a large scale banishing sort of thing, it’ll work a thousand or so times better if you use this sigil.”

She opens her mouth, closes it, then opens it again, stuttering out a response.

“Um, I- Thanks? I think? How did you know that, though?”

You smile, warm and genuine. “I’m a witch, I’ve kinda been doing this stuff for years. That sigil is out of my personal collection, so I can vouch for its effectiveness.”

The girl gives you a look as though she's trying to analyze and understand you, making you feel as though you’re being tested or something. Finally, she gives you the smallest of smiles back.

"What was your name again? I know we've met, but..."

"Oh! It's Marisa," you hold your hand out and she shakes it, smiling just a tiny bit more. "Nice to meetcha."

"I'm Reimu. Ah, Reimu Hakurei. I guess it's nice to meet you too? Even if you're really weird."

"Thanks dude, I'll take that as a compliment."

"I'm not sure it was meant to be one." Her voice is soft, and she's obviously still uncertain about you, but her smile is still there, and holy shit your heart is fluttering every time she looks at you with that expression, you need to get yourself under control and not come off as a gay disaster.

"Well, whatever. I'll take it anyway. Gotta be an opportunist, ya know?”

She _giggles_ and okay that’s it, you are just dead. There’s no saving you now.

“Yeah, I guess so. Uh… so how long have you been practicing? Witchcraft, I mean. Not making weird first impressions on strangers.”

“ _Wow,_ okay,” you pretend to be offended, making sure your smile reassures her that you’re not. “Anyway, uh, I think I first started getting into this stuff when I was, like, 8? Found some books on really basic magic, and in retrospect one of them was _awful,_ a horrible introduction to witchcraft, full of inaccuracies and condescending language and weird arbitrary rules that don’t even actually exist. But, the other books were fine, and using those as a guide I kinda started exploring magic on my own. Secretly, of course. Didn’t want my father finding out his daughter was an occult weirdo, ‘cept he found out anyway, so whatever. So yeah, uh, I guess that makes it about… um, I’m almost 18, so like, ten years.”

“Oh, that’s really cool. Not the part about your father finding out, I guess? I don’t know how that went. But the ten years years part, that’s cool.”

“Heh, thanks,” you lean back in your chair a bit, hands behind your head. “So, how long have you been practicing this sorta thing. And, um, what _do_ you do? I don’t think you’re a witch, but I could be totally off here.”

“No, I’m not a witch. Um, I guess you could say that I’m like… a spirit worker? I’m Shinto, and that’s my background with this sorta thing, so you could say I’ve been at it my whole life, though it wasn’t until I was older that I started really getting a serious interest, of course. I was always, I guess you could say, pretty spiritual though?”

“Shit dude, you’re Shinto, really? That’s so cool, outside of my father I’ve never met anyone who is until you. You’ve gotta tell me more, I’m not religious but I wanna know more about the practices, how all that stuff works, and it’s pretty hard to find good English resources out there. Like, I know Japanese in theory, but I’m honestly not very good, I’m way out of practice.”

“I could help you study sometime, maybe? As you may have figured out, I know Japanese.” She gestures to her journal, getting a small laugh out of you. “I could teach you more about Shinto too, I actually really like talking about it, but of course there’s no one around for me to talk about it with. I’m a religion major and I still haven’t gotten a chance to!”

“Yeah dude, this is kinda the wrong area for that sorta thing. Like, I’m sure their course has eastern religions in it, but like, I’d bet that 99% of people in there are Christians. Nothin’ wrong with that, it’s just not gonna be very helpful if you’re lookin’ to talk about Shinto, that’s all.”

“So I’ve noticed. Well, I didn’t exactly choose to live here, and I’m too poor to move, you know?”

“God, yeah, I know that all too well.” You shake your head. You understand.

“There’s not really any other schools either, this is the largest university I’ve heard about here?”

“Yeah, this is it, you’ve gotta drive an hour or two if you wanna find the other big unis. That’s why I’m here, but honestly… I dunno if I really want to stick around much longer. I thought it’d be fun, studying astronomy, and like, I do enjoy the classes? Like, physics and cosmology, I love that stuff. I guess it’s just the environment or something that’s throwing me off, I just completely lost motivation to continue doing this.”

“Oh. You think you might drop out? Or transfer somewhere else?”

“Probably drop out. I can’t afford this shit anyway.”

“Heheh, yeah. Get out while you’re ahead and your student loans aren’t going to be hanging over you for the rest of your life.”

“Mmhmm.” You shrug, dismissing the topic, and the two of you sit in silence for several minutes, not uncomfortably. Being here with her and talking to her just feels so natural, even though you’ve basically just met, even though fifteen minutes ago you were fighting to gather up the confidence to approach her at all.

She goes back to her journal, making some notes, and you just watch her for a while; even her handwriting is pretty. That’s so unfair. After another quarter of an hour, she looks up at you, pulling you out of your idle thoughts.

“Hey, uh. Marisa?”

“Yeah, what’s up?

“Mm… are you doing anything tonight?”

Holy fuck. Is she asking you out? What is this?? You struggle to maintain a calm, casual expression.

“Nope, not a thing. Why?”

“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to go with me tonight? There’s this building across town that’s, well, really haunted, I can’t think of any better way to put it. I’ve been watching it for a few months now and decided I should do something about it. This is going to be my first time trying anything this big, though. Like, I only really started getting into this kind of thing a couple years ago. So… I guess what I’m trying to say is that having an experienced witch by my side as backup would probably be helpful.”

“Really? Well sure, sounds like a good time.”

“If that’s your idea of a good time…” Her voice trails off, and you laugh.

“Sorry dude, I’m kinda weird. But yeah, I’d love to come, just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”  

“Here, I’ll write down the address. How does a quarter to midnight sound?”

“Works for me.” You glance down at the piece of scrap paper she hands you. “Hey, I know where this is. Hell, I think I even know what building you’re talking about.”

“Really? So I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”

“Yeah, I noticed, and I proceeded to stay the hell away from there. Spirit work isn’t really my forté, ya know? Plus, I don’t like that neighborhood, it’s too… fancy. I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb around there. But I’ll still come!”

“I’ll see you tonight, then?” As she asks, she stands up, pulling her bag over her shoulder and storing her journal inside.

“Yeah, see ya tonight, Reimu.”

You could almost swear you saw her blush when you said her name, but… that’s silly. You’re just imagining things.

 

That night, you show up at 11:45 sharp, and Reimu greets you with mild surprise.

“You’re here.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m here. I said I would be, didn’t I? I don’t like going back on promises.” You cross your arms, hoping for an explanation. Are you really so untrustworthy that she thought you wouldn’t come, only having just met you?

“No, I just thought you’d be late. That’s why I said 11:45 and not midnight.”

“You thought I would be late,” you say flatly.

“Sorry! I couldn’t really get a good read on you but you seemed like you could be the kind of person who’s habitually late. Guess I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

“Guess so.” That didn’t really make you feel much better about this. Reimu must take notice, too, as she’s frowning, looking almost… sad? Or maybe just disappointed.

“I’m sorry, Marisa. I guess I haven’t made a very good first impression, have I?”

You wait a few moments before responding, gathering your thoughts and taking a deep breath.

“Nah, you have. Actually, I think you’re pretty cool. ‘S not your fault you thought I’m irresponsible or whatever. I mean, you’re not exactly the first person to come to that conclusion, and to be completely honest there’s probably a lot of truth to it.”

“Really?”

You’re not sure what she’s even asking about now. “Uh, to which part of that?”

“All of it, really.”

“Ah.” You hesitate. This isn’t exactly the kind of thing you thought you’d be talking to this girl about, especially not when you’ve just met. “Yeah, I guess. One, I do indeed think you’re pretty cool. Why else would I have gone up to you, ya know? Two, um… I dunno, I’m not really a good person or whatever. Like, I lie and steal and curse people and I’m reckless, I have kind of a hoarding problem and I’m really messy, I can be a real asshole sometimes and I’m confrontational, I get angry too easily and get into fights, and—”

“That’s enough,” Reimu interrupts. “Let’s just get this done and over with, we can talk more later.”

“Uh, yeah, right. Of course.” Wow! You feel like a damn fool! Oversharing to strangers is just so _great._ Truly fantastic.

You follow Reimu inside (you decide against questioning why the door was unlocked) and try to clear your mind of all this crap. You need to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Hey, so,” Reimu begins, turning to look at you. “I want to try to handle this on my own first, since I could use the experience and anyway, you said spirit work isn’t your forté, so I don’t want to put you in any danger.”

“Dude, when I said spirit work’s not my forté, I didn’t mean that I don’t do it at all, I just meant that it’s not my usual stuff, not what I focus on. I still have years of experience, so trust me, I can handle it. Hell, I’ve done stuff like this before, even.”

“You have? Well, I hope it doesn’t sound like I don’t trust you, but I really think I need to do this alone.” She looks like she expects you to argue. Just for that reason, you don’t.

“Yeah, alright, you probably do need the experience. Just be careful, alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. If all goes well I’ll see you soon, Marisa. Actually, if something does go wrong, I’m counting on you to back me up, so I’ll be seeing you either way.” She gives you a little smile and a wave, and you notice she’s holding what looks like a sort of weird gohei in her hand. You wave back, and off she goes, into the main room of the building.

And now you wait. You lean against a dusty wall and pull out your phone, checking your most active social media account before opening up a game based on a popular cartoon, tapping idly to clear RPG-style battles. Might as well waste some time until she needs you, which she probably won't, right? She said she could handle it. Everything will be okay. You haven’t been near her long enough to really get much of an idea, but you think she’s probably pretty powerful, if inexperienced. She seems to naturally have a great deal of spiritual energy, and decent control over it as well. She’ll be fine. She doesn’t need you here, you’re just the emergency backup. It’ll be okay.

…

…

 

Fuck, you can’t do this. How long has it even been, five, ten minutes? It feels like it’s been an eternity. You should at least go check in on her, just to be sure everything’s okay. She’ll probably find it annoying, but she can deal.

You fling open the door with more force than is entirely necessary and glance around a bit before spotting her in the moonlight that flows in through a window. She’s kneeling on the floor, eyes closed. For a second you think she might be focusing, meditating or something, but then you take notice of the energy of the room. That’s, wow, that’s some pretty powerful negative energy, okay, and it seems she hasn’t cleared much of it out, if any. What is she doing? Is she… no. No.

She wraps her arms around herself, visibly shaking, squeezing her eyes shut tighter; you think you may even hear her make a sound, almost like a whimper. You step closer and take off the pendant you wear, letting it fall to the floor and bracing yourself for the full force of the room’s energy to hit you, making sure you can withstand it. Immediately, you can discern exactly what’s happening here: Reimu was underprotected and subsequently overwhelmed by all the malevolent forces, all the volatile negative energy. She’s in danger.

Time to put a stop to it. You grab the pendant and pull it back over your head, running over to where Reimu is and placing yourself between her and the darkness that encroaches. Reaching into your bag, you pull out a jar of muddy brown liquid, followed by a wand tipped with a quartz crystal, wrapped in wire and ribbon. Quickly but carefully you pour the war water in a circle around you both, trying to not get it on either of you. It’s gross.

Once you have that makeshift ward ready, you raise your wand and focus all your energy through it, letting it be magnified by the quartz crystal and then channeled into your work; you then gesture with it, as though drawing a pentagram in the air, visualizing the path. At the same time, you recite an exorcism chant, and you feel as though this on-the-spot banishing may be a bit messy, thrown together from random bits of other rites and practices, but you persist, forcing forth as much energy as you can. Gradually, you begin to overwhelm the presences within the building, slowly at first, but then more quickly as you gain confidence in your makeshift rite, until _finally_ it feels like everything has been driven out. The negative energy, too, is almost gone, countered by your own.

 _Phew._ That was exhausting, and you’re going to be feeling this for days, if not weeks. You struggle sometimes with your personal energy already, and forcing yourself to draw on that much is a terrible idea… but you had to. You had to, and for that reason you don’t regret it.

You just stand there for a while, trying to catch your breath and ground yourself, until you hear a quiet voice from behind you.

“Marisa?”

Fucking _shit_ you were so tired you almost forgot about her! Immediately you drop to the floor, turning to her with all of your worries evident on your face, no longer able to care about maintaining a cool and confident persona. She just stares at you, looking dazed, swaying ever so slightly… is she dizzy?

You don’t think, you just find yourself wrapping your arms around her and holding her tightly. She doesn’t even react for several long moments, but then you feel her hands clutching the fabric of your shirt as she rests her forehead against your chest.

Okay, not only is she absolutely adorable, but you find yourself blushing, suddenly feeling like you have butterflies in your stomach. Gotta shut that right the fuck down and digest those suckers, you need to stay focused and _not_ be weird and gay in front of this girl who probably already has so many conflicting opinions of you. You need to focus on helping and comforting her.

Minutes pass wherein you just rub her back and feel her hair tickling your neck. Your leg is kind of starting to fall asleep, but you’ll stay here as long as necessary.

Eventually she looks up at you, and you’re almost reassured by the fact that she’s blushing too, though that’s _probably_ just the embarrassment of hugging a near stranger for ten minutes.

“Guess I needed help after all,” she mumbles. You reach over to carefully brush a bit of hair out of her face, and she blinks several times. Probably weirding her out here, nice.

“Hey, can’t say that I haven’t severely overestimated myself and paid the price for it before. Shit happens. You just have to learn from it and move on.”

“Yeah, I know.” She closes her eyes for a few seconds, and you feel new concern for her; when she opens them, you realize just how exhausted she looks. Time to get her out of here. You stand up, stowing your wand and the now nearly empty jar of war water back into your bag, and offer her your hand. She tries to stand on her own, but can’t quite make it, looking frustrated as she takes your hand and lets you pull her to her feet. When she leans on you for support, she looks somehow even more upset with herself, and you put an arm around her shoulder.

“Reimu,” Your voice is almost a whisper, and she looks at you with an vaguely questioning look. You continue. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she says, a little too quickly. The frustration is back and you pull her just a little bit closer.

“Hey. I know how you feel. I know it’s tough, but please don’t be too hard on yourself for this. You made a mistake, almost got hurt pretty badly, and now you’re embarrassed to need help, and your frustration is understandable, it really is. However, like. How do I put this...” You frown, carefully choosing your words. “Beating yourself up about it is only going to make things worse, trust me. And, honestly, I don’t want to see you fall into that particular pit. It can be hard to get back out, and also, I don’t wanna see you miserable. You’re too cute for that.” You immediately make a face at yourself for saying that out loud, and Reimu giggles quietly. Well, if she thought it was at all amusing then that’s good, you’re trying to cheer her up here, after all.

“Thank you, Marisa, for helping me back there. And, you know, for everything else. I feel that I really owe you for this.”

“Hmm,” You pause for a second before continuing. “I know what you can do for me.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Two things. One, I want you to go home, sleep for as long as reasonably possible, and never fuckin’ do anything like this on your own again. Let me come with you.”

“I think that’s three things right there, or maybe even four,” she points out. “But I can do that. What else?”

“Uh, well, this one is more of a polite request than anything, but, like. Tomorrow’s the full moon, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I want you to accompany me to a witchy thing tomorrow. I mean, if you want to. Absolutely don’t even try to come if you’re not feeling better. But, if you are, then do you want to? I promise it’ll be a hell of a lot safer than this trip was. What do you say?”

“Sure! I, I mean, I’m not doing anything tomorrow night, so it’ll be fun. It sounds a lot better than staying in the dorm and not doing anything.”

“Cool, then I’ll see you tomorrow night. I can come meet you somewhere on campus, or we can meet up at my apartment? Actually, no, my apartment’s an actual hellhole, let’s not do that.”

“I’m not judging. You can come all the way back to campus if you want, but it’d probably be easier for me to meet you. Right?”

Dammit, she has a point. “Yeah, you’re right. But we’re not going inside. Nope, fuck that, sorry dude. You don’t get to take a glimpse into the fascinating, strange, and possibly disgusting life of Marisa.”

“Are you really that messy?”

“Nah. Well, I mean, I am messy, it matches my personality, which is a mess. But I swear that place was trash before I ever touched it. It’s all I could afford, man.”

“Why don’t you live on campus?” The two of you have made it outside, and she looks at you questioningly in the moonlight.

“Dude. I’m a practicing witch, and I’m not real subtle about it. Me and dorms would _not_ get along. Plus, the aforementioned messiness. Don’t wanna unleash that upon some poor fuck.”

Reimu laughs openly now, not just a giggle, and _holy crap_ even her laugh is adorable. This is too much for your small gay heart to handle. Good thing it’s still pretty dark.

“Alright, I guess that makes sense.” She frowns. “Ah, dammit, Marisa?”

“What’s up?” Even more concern? Absolutely.

“Uh… can you come back to campus with me? Obviously I’m not asking you to stay or anything, but I just… am not sure I can make it back on my own, I guess. Pretty pathetic, isn’t it?”

“You’re not pathetic, don’t worry. Yeah though, I can totally come with. Like, I’m not doing anything else tonight, I can stick around as long as you need me to.”

“Thanks. It probably won’t be necessary for you to linger there, but I appreciate it regardless.”

“No problem dude, that’s what I’m here for tonight. That is my purpose.”

Another little laugh, and just that sound alone makes you feel a bit happier. This is not good, you are already so completely and utterly lost in the crush wastelands, and you don’t have a map. No rescue for you, no way out. Goodbye Marisa.

“So how do you want to get back to campus? It’s pretty late,” Reimu asks.

“Uber? It’s not _that_ late, it’s only 12:30 or something.”

“Really? It feels a lot later.”

“Yeah, I know, right? We’re both too damn tired for our own goods tonight.”

“That’s true,” she agrees. “We really are. Well, here, I’ll get us one. Oh, and I’ll pay, too. It’s my fault we’re here in the first place, so don’t worry about that.”

“You sure? I’m not totally broke, I can afford to pay half or whatever.”

“I’m sure. I wouldn’t feel right making you pay after all this.”

“Huh, well, alright then. Lead the way, Reimu, and find us our ride across town!” You say the last part with dramatic flair, and she giggles as she gets out her phone and opens up the app.

 

Half an hour later you arrive on campus and she leads you to her dorm… on the third floor of the building. She insists that the elevator will take longer, however, and so up the stairs you go, with you helping to support her, and both of you struggling there for a bit. When you finally make it up to her dorm, she unlocks the door and immediately goes to collapse on the bed, patting the space beside her for you to sit. You join her and look around.

“This is… quite possibly the smallest room I’ve ever laid eyes on. Dude, is this even like, twenty square feet?”

“I don’t remember,” Reimu mumbles. “I dunno, it’s okay once you get used to it. Plus, I don’t have a roommate.”

“Wait, seriously? That’s so awesome!”

“I guess? These rooms are really really old, they stopped using them for doubles after the new buildings were built. I just got stuck in here for whatever reason. Price is about the same though, so it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m going to be severely in debt either way.”

“God dude, I feel that. That’s part of why I think I might drop out after this semester. Like, living in the city is expensive, tuition is expensive, and I think the mold in my apartment is starting to make me sick, and like, I’m not exactly sensitive to that kinda thing normally, nor can I afford to pay medical bills.”

“Ew,” Reimu remarks. “The end of the semester though? Really? It’s already half over.”

“Yeah, I’ve already paid for this shit, I’m not gonna just stop showing up. That’d be a waste.”

“No, I meant… never mind.” Reimu shakes her head and buries herself a bit further into her pillow, pulling a blanket over herself.

“What? What did you mean?”

“I only meant that, well. I’ve just met you, and you’re already going to be gone in six weeks.”

“Oh,” you say, eloquent as always. You weren’t expecting her to say something like that. “I mean, we can still talk and stuff if you want. Like, I’ve got Skype, we can call on there.”

“Yeah, I guess...”

“What else is wrong?”

“I, um. I don’t have any friends here or anything, and I don’t know where I’m going to go this summer. I was sort of hoping that maybe I could stay with you, since you live here in the city, but it sounds as though you’re going to be leaving once you drop out?”

“Ah, man, yeah. I’ve got my dad’s old place I can go back to, it’s been empty for a year or so now but it’ll probably be better than my current living situation. Plus like, I own it, and there’s not even any payments or anything.”

“You _own_ a house?”

“Ugh, it’s a really long story. Don’t be getting the impression that I’m some kinda rich person, because I’m not.” You sigh, and Reimu rolls over to look up at you.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be intrusive or anything.”

“You’re fine, don’t worry. It’s just really a long story and I don’t think you would care to hear it. But wait though, you don’t have anywhere to go this summer?”

You can’t really read her expression when she answers. “No, I don’t. As soon as I started school my mom moved out and fucked off to god knows where. I guess she’s important in a lot of places that aren’t here.”

Oh. Yikes. You grimace and pat her shoulder. “Damn, that really sucks, wow. I kinda know the feeling, but sheesh, at least my dad left me with _something_.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, like. I dunno, he like, kind of abandoned me when I was 16. I was trying to find a way to move out at the time because I was about to graduate high school—”

“At 16?”

“I was ahead a grade. Anyway, I never really got along with him and was looking into moving out for quite some time, though I never really worked anything out. And yet, a week or so before graduation, he left, and from then on I was on my own. So yeah.”

“Wow, I’m really sorry,” she says, and you can tell she means it. “How did you recover from that? You have a place to live now, and a backup option. How did you manage that?”

You shrug. “I just stayed in the house. Found out a few months later that he’d actually left it to me, along with ten grand in a savings account I had no idea existed, apparently my mom had started it for me when I was little. So, I guess he didn’t _totally_ abandon me, but I’m still going to be bitter about it, just try and stop me.”

Reimu sort of awkwardly pats you, not able to reach your leg without sitting up so instead settling for your side. You appreciate the gesture.

“Anyway! I oughta get goin’ now, you need to sleep and quite frankly so do I. But first, can I see your phone?”

“Um, okay?” She unlocks it and hands it to you, confused. You open up her contacts and quickly create a new entry for yourself, leaving your number, address, and Skype handle, then hand it back. She looks at it for a moment, then looks up at you.

“I have your full name now,” she says, and you raise an eyebrow, giving her a Look.

“Should I be _concerned_ here?”

“No, it’s just nice I guess. Like, you’re that much less of a stranger now. _Kirisame_.” The word sounds nice falling from her lips, just in the way she says it, and that’s not only because she pronounced it correctly.

“Heh, yeah. Thanks for nailing the pronunciation, by the way, I feel like I just gained an hour or two on my life just from that.”

She laughs. “I was hoping I wasn’t completely misreading some weird European name or something, it’s good to hear that I was right.”

“No, you’re fine, you’ve got it. I’m gonna take you up on that offer, by the way, for you to help me study Japanese. But you’re going to have to be _very_ patient with me, I haven’t spoken it in years. I used to be pretty fluent, but now? Nah, man.”

“I think I’d love that, maybe once things are a little less weird we can? Or I could just start Skyping you in Japanese and let you struggle.”

“ _Thanks_ ,” you say sarcastically, but you smile at her. “I put my address on there—” You nod at her phone. “—So I’ll see ya tomorrow. Is 8 PM good?”

“8 PM works for me.”

“Nice. Goodnight then, Rei.” You slide off the bed and wave at her. She waves back.

“Goodnight, Marisa. See you tomorrow!”

 

You’re not sure you can survive much more of this level of exposure to her cuteness. This girl might just be the end of you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! More silly, friendly, nervous, and occasionally emotionally compromised girls for you.
> 
> This chapter contains very brief discussion of biphobia and transphobia. It's mild and mostly in passing, but it is there.

The following evening, Reimu meets you outside your apartment, wearing a cute red skirt and a plain sleeveless collared shirt, a ribbon bow at her neck. Her hair hangs loose, not partially pulled back as it was the night before, with a black headband keeping her bangs out of her eyes.

It’s all you can do to not stare at her like a weirdo as you greet her, but boy does she stare at you. You’re dressed up in your Witchy Clothes™, a black dress with a white collar and sleeves, ruffles at the hem of the skirt, plus a big witches’ hat with a purple bow on it. Over the dress you had pulled on a long black cardigan, one that you wear often, for both the comfort of its soft material and protection from the night’s cold.

“Um, hey Reimu,” you manage to mumble, feeling embarrassed about your outfit for what is perhaps the first time ever.

“Hi, Marisa. Is this how you dress outside of school? Maybe you’re even weirder than I thought.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You ready to go?”

“Sure, but I don’t even know where we’re going. What _are_ we doing tonight?” Oops, right, you didn’t tell her, so she’s probably even _more_ confused by the way you look.

“There’s this local coven that’s open to outsiders and guests, I’m not a part of it because I don’t follow the same path they do, but they hold a full moon esbat every month that’s usually pretty fun. Again, it’s not the way I practice, it’s a Wiccan coven and I’m just sort of an eclectic witch with no real religious affiliation, but it’s still cool to see the way they do things. There’s a lot of ritual elements involved, but don’t worry, you’re not expected to _know_ much of anything, that’s why they’re open to outsiders. It’s not super serious either, the full moon esbat tends to have a sorta joyous festival atmosphere, at least with this group.”

“Really? Well, that does sound interesting. Sure, I’ll go.”

“You already said you were coming, dude.”

“Right, well. I’m just saying it again. Oh, and I guess I understand why you’re dressed like that now. You want to look really stereotypically witchy?”

You blow a raspberry at her. “Dude, half the folks in that coven are gonna be dressed way more ostentatiously than me, just you watch. Besides, like. This is _actually_ what I wear for rituals and stuff, a lotta practitioners have designated clothes for that sorta thing, to help get them into the right mindset. Understand?”

“Alright, I understand. It just seemed kind of silly. You need to realize I don’t really know anything about witchcraft except for where it overlaps with what I do.”

“Yeah, I getcha. Anyway, let’s get this show on the road, we’re meeting at the High Priestess’ house. It’s like, a half an hour walk. You cool with that?”

“Mmhmm, that’s fine. It’s a nice night.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Plus, I don’t feel like payin’ for transportation. I should really see about getting a driver’s license, but I never had lessons or anything.”

“That might be a little hard, then.”

“I know, right? Plus it’s _expensive_ , I can’t afford to drive right now anyway, even if I do manage to obtain a car that runs and isn’t going to annihilate my finances.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I can’t drive either.”

“Heh, we should start a club.”

 

As the two of you talk, you start off down the street, into the cool April evening. At some point, the conversation dies off and you walk in silence, still as natural and comfortable feeling as the last time you and her just quietly sat there together.

You get stopped at a wide, busy street near the middle of town, the traffic as heavy as ever and the button to get the crosswalk signal apparently not working. Standing at the corner impatiently, you shove your hand into the left pocket of your dress and fiddle with a little fidget toy you had in there, keeping it hidden to avoid any judgement. Reimu looks over curiously for a second, but doesn’t ask anything. Instead, she steps a little bit closer to you, shivering slightly.

“Dude, you want my sweater? You look like you’re freezing. Why’d you even wear short sleeves?”

“Because I made a mistake,” she replies, scrunching her face up. “And please.”

You shrug off the cardigan and drape it over her shoulders; she immediately pulls it on and holds it closed, still shivering. Poor girl. You consider putting your arm around her to help keep her warm, but… that’d probably be weird and too forward. Instead, you just stand there beside her, watching the traffic for an opening.

You’re distracted, frowning at the passing cars and still messing with that fidget toy when you suddenly feel a hand brush against yours. Reimu watches you intently, waiting for a reaction, looking nervous. Smiling a little, you take hold of her hand, your fingers intertwining with hers. She looks surprised, eyes widening a bit, but steps closer still so that your shoulders touch.

The two of you just stand there like that, holding hands in the fading light of dusk, leaning against one another (just for warmth!), for another twenty or so seconds, when _finally_ a gap clears in the traffic. Without even saying anything, you both sprint across the street, still holding onto one another tightly.

When you’re finally on the other side, you stop to catch your breath; looking over at Reimu, her cheeks are pink, and you wonder if it’s from the cold, from running like that, or from some sort of embarrassment to be holding your hand. Just in case, you let go and step back a bit, keeping your expression carefully neutral. Reimu takes notice, of course. She is already _way_ too good at picking up on your weird moods.

“Marisa? Is… something wrong?”

 _Dammit._ Looks like you totally misread that situation.

“Sorry, just figured you’d probably want your hand back.”

It’s as though Reimu can sense your discomfort, judging by what she says next, looking pointedly at the ground.

“Did… did I do something wrong?”

Fuck!!! You fucked up!! You hurriedly try to reassure her.

“No! No, you didn’t do anything, I swear. I just figured that, like… I dunno, like you’d be embarrassed to be seen with me like that, or to, well, do that at all. We’re not exactly the closest of friends, ya know?”

“Is that how you really feel? That we’re not really friends?” Her hands are in fists at her sides, her face hidden by her hair.

“No, fuck, I—”

“It’s okay. I understand. I just… don’t have any friends here, so I thought that… I don’t know. It was stupid for me to assume anything.”

Okay, that’s it. You’re shutting this down _right now._ You take hold of both her hands, uncurling her fingers to intertwine yours with hers once again. She looks at you, confused, but you interrupt before she can say anything.

“Listen. I want us to be friends. Hell, I thought we already are. Nowhere did I say otherwise, either. I understand, you know, not having anyone else. I really do, but you shouldn’t be scared like this. Like, you shouldn’t be afraid that I’m not going to turn out to not like you at all or some crap like that, because that’s what it is! It’s crap! No offense. But, to be completely honest, and you’re probably gonna think I’m weird but I feel that I need to get this out there anyway, I’d be perfectly happy spending all my time with you. Fuck, I dunno, it’s like you’re just _perfect_ , and it’s so comfortable to just be by your side, and to talk to you. Like we’ve known each other a hell of a lot longer than 36 hours. I don’t exactly have any other friends anyway, like, I’m really an unpleasant person to be around and I’m worried that you’re gonna realize that. That’s why I thought you’d be embarrassed to be seen with me, holding my hand.” Whoops, that was a bit too personal and revealing. Dammit.

“Well, I’m not. I really like you too, Marisa. Maybe that’s just because you pretty much literally saved my life last night, or maybe it’s that I’m so desperate for real, genuine interactions with other humans that I’m clinging to you. I don’t know. Guess we’re both being pretty silly and clueless, aren’t we?”

“Heh, yeah, you’ve got that right. I guess we’re both messes.” You release her hands, only so that you can readjust, returning to holding just her left hand. “We should probably get going, though. People are starting to stare at us ‘cause we’re over here being damn fools on the sidewalk, and I’m dressed like _this._ Besides, we don’t wanna be late, even though I had you come over way early just in case we got off-track, a phenomenon that seems to be pretty common between us already.”

Reimu laughs softly, and the two of you continue down the sidewalk, breath visible in the increasingly cold air, walking as close to each other as you can (for warmth!), chatting the whole time.

 

When you finally make it to the location of the esbat, it’s nearly 9 o'clock, just in time. Perfect. You didn’t want to get stuck having to socialize with people for too terribly before it began; they always ask questions about your practice, and it always gets really awkward.

The two of you are led inside, through the house and into the sizeable backyard.

“This place is really fancy,” Reimu whispers as she looks around first at the finely decorated house, then at the large deck, torches placed every few feet around its railing.

“I know, right? It’s like getting a glimpse into another world.” You’re trying to think up a joke when your thoughts are interrupted by a loud voice in very close proximity to you, making you jump. In front of you is a middle aged looking woman in some kind of dip dyed dress and an oversized shawl. She wears a huge pentagram on a silver chain. Reimu, noticing your mild discomfort, places a hand on your back and pats you gently. Bless her. Bless Reimu Hakurei.

“Sorry, please repeat what you said,” she asks of the woman, who frowns slightly, but shakes her head and continues.

“I said, hello and welcome to our April esbat. You look familiar,” she points at you. “But I can’t say I’ve ever seen you around before. Mind introducing yourselves?”

“Uh, sure,” you say, looking at Reimu. She takes the hint and answers first.

“I’m Reimu, and no, I haven’t ever been here before. I’m not actually a witch or anything, but my hobbies intersect with the magical community fairly often, so when I was invited to come along I decided it’d be a good learning experience.”

“That’s good! Nice to meet you, Ray-moo.”

You almost crack up laughing at the way she said Rei’s name, but manage not to. Still, you can’t help but smile as you say your bit. “And I’m Marisa. I stick my head in around here every now and then. I’m actually a witch, but I’m a solitary practitioner, so I’m just visiting.”

“Oh! That’s it, you were at our Yule celebration, weren’t you?”

“If you saw a kid with a big hat like this but with a red bow on it, then yes, that was me.”

“Yes, I recognize you. We were all rather concerned about you, now that I think about it, but it seems that you have a… friend, now, so that’s good. I’m happy to see that you’re doing better.”

“Uh, sure? Thanks?” If the woman hears you, she gives no indication of it. Instead, she just gestures for you to follow her over to the main group. After exchanging glances, the two of you follow her.

Rei leans in and whispers to you along the way. “Hey, Marisa? What did she mean, they were worried about you?”

“Oh, it’s nothin’ really. I just wasn’t really eating enough at the time and I guess it kinda showed. I pretty much only had gone for the food, anyway.”

“Why weren’t you…?”

“No fuckin’ money, my guy. Also, debilitating depression.”

“Oh.” She doesn’t question you any further, for which you’re kind of grateful. When you reach the main group, you pull out your phone to check the clock: 8:51 PM. Not much longer, assuming they start on time.

“So what’s going to happen?” Reimu asks, still whispering.

“They’ll go through a lotta ritual stuff, then there’ll be a chance for anyone to perform any magic they wish to while all that power is gathered. After all that’s done, there’ll be snacks and idle conversation with strangers.”

“I like snacks. Not so much that last part, though.”

You snicker, and Reimu smiles. The two of you have sat down in the cool grass, and you lean your head on her shoulder; in turn, she puts her arm around you. Nearby, a few people are watching you, and begin to whisper amongst themselves. You’d flip them off if you could, just on principle, because they’re staring at you and Reimu. However, she doesn’t seem to notice, or at least won’t respond.

Wait a second… You realize Reimu is looking sideways over at them as she pulls you a little closer, and her expression has changed, now somewhere between nervous and angry, but closer to the former.

“You okay?” You whisper to her. She seems frozen, but manages a response.

“I don’t like the way they’re looking at us. We should leave if they don’t stop.”

“Hey, dude, I know it’s obnoxious, since they pretty obviously have gotten the impression that we’re dating, but I doubt they mean any harm. I mean, this is a bunch of fuckin’ Wiccans, ‘an it harm none’ is _literally_ their motto. We should be fine. Besides, we’re not even actually dating. Their impression is wrong.”

Reimu hums, thinking it over, and eventually just nods. “Alright. I’ll believe you. But, um, Marisa? Can I ask you something kind of weird and maybe personal?”

“Shoot.”

“Uh… are you straight?”

You burst out laughing. Reimu gives you a somewhat startled look, and several people are now looking over. It’s a struggle, but you force yourself to stop laughing, but still grin as you speak next.

“Hell no, I’m about as straight as, I dunno, the Pinwheel Nebula?”

“I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m assuming it’s shaped like a pinwheel?”

“Got it in one, dude.”

“I see. Well… okay, thanks for answering.” Silence falls between the two of you as Reimu seems to consider something, until finally she whispers again. “So then… what _are_ you?”

“Uh, probably a lesbian. Dunno, I’m just attracted to girls and femininity, I guess. Lesbian is the easiest way to say that.”

Reimu nods, smiling a little again (thank god). “I’m bi, I think.”

“Nice,” you offer her your hand for a high five, which she accepts, smiling more. She’s just so cute.

Wait a second, though… she’s bisexual! You don’t have a crush on a straight girl for once in your life! Maybe, just maybe, you have a chance. But, you don’t want to mess up your newly formed friendship with her, so you’ll just keep _that_ bit of info to yourself, you think. Oh, well. You’re just happy being near her, you think.

Reimu nudges you, drawing your attention from your thoughts back to your surroundings; they’re starting, it seems. A woman in a white floor-length dress walks up to the altar that’s been erected in the center of the yard. Striking a match and lighting a red candle, she turns to face south, talking as she walks over to set the candle on a small table set up at the edge of the area.

“Guardians of the South, Element of Fire, I call upon thee to be present during our ritual. Illuminate our hearts, minds, and spirits, and bless this circle.”

She then returns to the altar, selects a blue candle, and repeats her words, this time calling upon Water and settling the candle in the west. Twice more she does this, for Earth in the north and Air in the east. Once she’s finished, she returns again to the altar, picks up a wand, made from wood and covered in ornate carvings, points to the edge of the circle, and spins in place three times clockwise. As she does, Reimu watches with fascination from beside you.

“That’s a lot of energy,” she murmurs in your ear, just barely loud enough for you to hear. You just nod, not wanting to draw further attention to yourselves by interrupting. She’s right, though; the High Priestess is filling the circle with pure energy to create a sacred space, and you can sense it in the air around you, feeling almost as if it’s tangible. When she finishes spinning, she raises the wand up above her head, moonlight catching in the large crystal at its tip.

“Our Lord and Lady,” she begins, voice loud enough to be heard clearly around the yard. “Please join us by our side tonight as we celebrate the Mother and Her care for all the Earth and its creatures. Bless this circle and keep us protected. This is a sacred space, and only the pure and divine are welcome here!” Once again, she spins around clockwise, still holding the wand high in the air. “The circle is sealed, so mote it be!”

“So mote it be,” echoes the group. Reimu, not knowing what’s going on, stays quiet, while you just mumble the words.

The High Priestess moves onto an intention statement for the coven’s main ritual tonight, and you nudge Reimu.

“We don’t participate here. This lot lets visitors join them for most of it, but we can’t participate in their main ritual.”

“Then where do we go?” she asks as you stand up.

“We’re allowed to hang out inside until they move onto the next part, which is open and general magic stuff.”

“On our own? Even though we’re strangers?”

“I think her husband is in there or something.”

“Oh, alright.”

Reimu follows you back inside, slipping off her shoes before entering the main part of the house. Right, maybe you should do that too. Just to be polite. Maybe. In any case, you pull off your boots and set them beside her flats, then follow her over to sit on a ridiculously large white couch. She just watches as you recline back awkwardly on the couch, one eyebrow raised. Once you’ve found a comfortable position, you wink at her, and she looks away quickly, looking a little flustered.

“So!” you begin. “You’re bi, huh?”

“Yeah. You’re gay?” She seems to be wondering where this is going.

“Sure am. So, I’m guessin’ you avoid the school’s LGBT club and stuff? Never seen you around there.”

“Ha, yeah. It just kind of makes me nervous, I guess. You know, being out as bi. You’re, um, I think you’re the first person I’ve outed myself to in a while. You just didn’t strike me as the type who’d say the usual things that bi people tend to get.”

“Like what?”

“Well, mostly it’s straight guys asking for a threesome and gay girls saying that you can’t trust bi girls. Um, no offence!”

“None taken dude, I’ve seen that kinda bullshit around before. I dunno, I seem to be exclusively sapphic so I can’t truly relate to your problems, and I always just label myself a lesbian, but I do kinda know what it’s like, having trouble fitting into the community that’s supposed to be for you.”

“Really?” She seems surprised. “How so?”

You hesitate; you don’t like telling people this kind of thing, as nervous as she apparently is, but she did trust you, after all… “Ah, I’m like, kinda nonbinary. I’ve gotten that ‘special snowflake’ crap from people before, among other things, so I just keep it to myself now. Like, it’s even happened at Pride, isn’t that just incredible?”

“Oh, I’m really sorry… uh… I didn’t think to ask before, so I’m really sorry if I’ve been getting it wrong. What are your pronouns?”

“Don’t worry, you’re fine, I use she/her. I’m kinda just genderfluid? The majority of the time I identify as a girl though, so it’s fine.”

“Alright. But, hey, Marisa?”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re ever uncomfortable with me calling you a girl or anything, you should tell me so I can fix it. I know you said usually it’s okay, but…”

You smile. She’s so good and pure. “Sure thing, thanks.”

“Mmhmm!” Reimu smiles back. After a few moments, she slides a little bit closer to you on the couch. “You know, it’s nice. Being accepted. Like… I always feel like I have to hide so much. What I do, what I believe, who I love, everything. So… thank you, Marisa.” Suddenly, her expression changes to something more sheepish and she nervously rubs the back of her neck. “Haha, I probably sound really desperate, don’t I?”

“No? Why do you think that?”

“We just met _yesterday._ I mean, I already kind of feel like I’ve known you for years, but that’s not really the case, and yet here I am, unloading all of this stuff on you.”

“Hey, it’s cool. I kinda feel the same way about you, actually. Maybe we’re just soulmates or something?”

“Heh, yeah. Maybe.”

The two of you sit in silence, leaning on each other; the only noises are the voices of the coveners outside and the sound of you both breathing. When a woman steps in some outside to tell you that you can rejoin them, she doesn’t quite look at either of you, seemingly uncertain, and you just ignore her awkwardness, hoping Reimu can do the same.

“So did you, like, come with any spells or something you wanted to do?” Reimu asks you as you return to where the coven is gathered.

“Of course. I mean, I save my big and private workings for when I’m on my own, but there’s a lot of energy here so it’s good to take advantage of it.” You lead her over to a table, where you select a glass bowl from a stack. Then, it’s over to a well with a hand pump to fill it with water (you can’t resist sticking your hand into the stream and flicking water at Reimu, who laughs and smacks you on the arm in jest).

“What are you doing, then?” She asks, but you just shake your head and lead her over to a somewhat quieter area, sitting down in the grass, setting the bowl down in front of you so that the moonlight reflects off it. You gaze into it and begin reciting an incantation you have memorized.

“I call you, Mother Moon, in your silver light. You are welcome here,” you murmur. Reimu sits beside you in silence, watching with curiosity. “Lady Moon, rest awhile within, for I would speak with you and seek your blessings.”

You take a deep breath. You’d probably prefer to do this alone, but oh well. “I need things to actually go right for once. I’m… nervous about leaving school and moving back to my father’s house. I have no idea what will happen or how I’ll get by if I can’t find a job in the area. I just want… no, I _need_ things to work out. I can’t have any more setbacks. If things don’t work out here, I have no idea what I’ll do. I—” You stop, taking another slow, deep breath to ground yourself. “Well, yeah. Thank you. Um… Lady Moon, I would no longer detain you from your journey. I give you thanks for your blessings soon to be received.”

With that, you stand up, ignoring Reimu’s stare as you pick up the bowl of water and pour it over some flowers, then gesture for her to follow you as you return the bowl to the table. She doesn’t ask about the spell, and for that you are grateful.

“Hey, so,” you say suddenly, turning to her. “Anything you wanna do?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know much of anything about magic, you know that.”

“So? Always time to start. We can do something real easy if you want.”

“Um… alright? I guess there is something I kind of want to do, but I don’t know how.” She looks uncertain.

“Go on,” you urge her.

“Well, like. I wanted to enchant something? But I have no idea how to and if I tried I’d probably mess it up.”

“Enchant it for what? And do you have it with you?”

“Yeah, I do, actually.” She pulls a necklace from her shirt pocket and shows it to you, a small yin-yang symbol made from some sort of crystal. “I wanted to enchant it for protection.”

“Sure, no problem. Have you by any chance cleansed it already?”

“Mmhmm, I knew to do that much at least. I just don’t know how to charge it and everything.”

“Alright, well, usually I like to charge objects by moonlight, and that’ll take all night. I could just use my own magical energy, but that’s up to you, since it’d have, well, my energy all over it, rather than something more neutral.”

“You can do that? I don’t mind where the energy came from so long as it _works_.”

“Yeah, I get ya. Here, let’s sit down again.” You lead her once more to a secluded part of the yard and sit down. “Okay, may I see it?”

She hands you the pendant. “Just be careful, alright?”

“Dude, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Basically, to enchant something, you just need to fill it with energy, of course, and that energy’s gotta be ‘programmed’, so to speak, with your intent,” you explain to her her, taking the pendant in your hand. You focus on it, gathering your energy and infusing the pendant with it; whatever it’s made out of, it must be very receptive to energy, you notice. Quartz, perhaps? The way it holds the energy you charge it with with ease suggests it.

You charge the pendant the best you can, until you begin to feel a bit of fatigue, and start getting the sense that it doesn’t particularly _need_ any more energy. Then, you hand it back to her.

“Does that feel alright to you? Let me know if you think it needs more energy or anything.”

“Oh, wow. Yeah, I think that’s good, jeez.”

“Too much?” You frown, and she quickly shakes her head.

“No! No, it’s good, I was just kind of taken aback by how much energy it’s holding, that’s all.”

“Yeah man, that material seems to hold energy really well, and probably magnifies it some, too. You made a good choice of items to enchant.”

“I know,” is all she says on the matter. “So, now what?”

“That’s pretty much it. I focused my energy with the intention of keeping you safe, protecting you from all kinds of threats, spiritual and physical and everywhere in between.”

She looks a little awe-struck, and smiles at you. “Thanks, Marisa. I really appreciate it. But… doesn’t that mean that we didn’t even have to be here to do it?”

“Sure,” you admit. “But I personally drew a lot of energy from our surroundings, which made it a hell of a lot easier.”

“Oh! Okay, I understand. Thank you.” She unclasps the chain of the necklace and puts it on, still smiling. “So, is there anything else we should do tonight?”

You consider it. “Well, um… we could wait for snacks and see what kinda weird stuff they have, or we could head outta here and order a pizza or something.”

“Pizza sounds pretty good,” she says. “Just so long as we split the cost.”

“No problem, dude, that was already what I had in mind.”

The two of you share a grin and stand up, taking hold of each other’s hands automatically. As you walk away, a voice can be heard from behind you.

“Oh, are you two leaving already?”

“Yeah,” you call back, turning around. “We’re gonna go spend the rest of the night together. Thanks for havin’ us, though!”

The woman blushes, and you snicker, tugging on Reimu’s hand with the intention of leaving as quickly as possible.

“Marisa!” Reimu scolds you when you reach the sidewalk. “What was that for?”

“Dude, did you _see_ the look on her face? I bet she was imagining us sleeping together.”

“Ugh, you’re unbelievable…” she mutters, but her expression betrays her amusement.

 

Somehow you end up back at your apartment, and you tell Reimu to wait outside so you can run in and clean up as quickly as possible, turning on the electric air purifier that sits in the living room to full blast and putting away the dishes you left stacked all over the counter after washing them. The pile of books that’s been threatening to take over a quarter of the living room is hurriedly stacked, the ashes scattered all over the coffee table are swept into your hand and tossed in the trash, and you turn on your laptop, connected to the TV, so that it can get started on grinding its way through its boot process.

Lastly, you light ten different candles and a stick of cinnamon incense, then run back out to where Reimu is sitting on the porch in wait.

“Okay!” You’re breathing a bit heavily as you make it back outside. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to be coming inside, had to make the place inhabitable to people who aren’t me.”

She giggles. “That’s okay, my dorm is a mess half the time, too. The only reason it was clean last night was because dorm inspections were on Monday.”

“Ew,” you say, and she nods in agreement.

“Well, at least it’s motivation to clean up, I guess? Normally I’m not really that bad, it’s just that I don’t have time to clean everything super often.”

“I get ya. Now, come on, I lit like, ten candles, so we should probably go inside just in case the world decides to fuck me over and try to set my apartment on fire.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. But, wait!” She pulls out her phone suddenly. “I want a picture of us together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I want to remember this night, I’m having a lot of fun.”

This warmth in your chest sparked by her words sure does contrast the cold night, you think to yourself. She throws her arm around you and smiles as she pulls up the front camera on her phone, leaning her head against yours just a little awkwardly around the wide brim of your hat and holding the phone out as far as possible. You smile too, a bit more softness to the expression than you usually let show, and she snaps the picture.

“We look like the coolest kids in town,” you say as she shows it to you.

“I’ll send it to you when I get a chance, alright?”

“Sweet, I’m gonna print it out and frame it so that I can show people the photographic proof that I spent an actual night with an actual cute girl.”

Reimu shoves you jokingly before following you inside, kicking off her shoes and walking into the living room to look around. You feel almost as though you’re being inspected, too, for some reason or another.

“I don’t know why you said this place was so bad, it seems fine to me. But, I guess you’re the one who has to live here.”

“Yeah, trust me _,_ it ain’t that great in the long term. See that air filter? I _rely_ on that thing.”

“Well, it smells nice in here, at least.” She sits on the edge of the couch, crossing her legs daintily. You throw yourself down beside her and set your feet up on the table, grinning at her, all to let her know that it’s okay for her to make herself at home.

“That’d be the ten candles. Also, incense.”

“Incense is pretty much a life-saver, isn’t it?”

“Shit, yeah it is. That’s the other thing I rely on in here.”

She sits back a little and you feel relieved, knowing that this means she’s at least somewhat comfortable in here with you. “So that’s why you always smell like incense, then.”

“I what.” You what?

“You smell like incense. It’s really nice, actually. Kind of homey in a weird way? Or maybe that’s just me.”

“Huh. Guess that makes sense. I’m pretty sure that like, half my paycheck goes to candles and incense, so yeah.”

She laughs. “Mine probably would too, if only I had a job and also was allowed to burn candles and incense in the dorms.”

“Ah, well, one day you’ll be able to waste all your money like I do. Just hold onto that thought and you’ll be okay.” You wink, and she laughs a little harder, covering her face, cheeks pink. Precious. When she looks back up at you, you grab your laptop and pull up the website of a pizza chain with a nearby restaurant. “So, whatcha want?”

“Um, I don’t know. Pretty much anything is fine by me. Maybe we can get a half-and-half pizza? I want olives on my half.”

“Sure thing, dude.” You start selecting options on the pizza, choosing to put pineapple on your half of the pizza. When she raises an eyebrow at you, you grin. “I’m a godless heathen, I know.”

“Well, at least you’re honest about it.”

When you click the order button, you do so with a flourish. “Alright! It says it’ll take fifty minutes, so it’ll probably be closer to twenty. Now, we wait.”

 

You end up pulling up a game on your computer to play while waiting for the pizza to arrive; Reimu watches, occasionally giggling when you cuss at the screen.

“Fuck! Fuck, how did I hit that?”

“It was right there.”

“I know! I can’t believe I just ran _right into_ the only bullet on the screen!”

“Can I try?”

“Sure, once I’ve either cleared or died. Probably going to be the latter at this rate, I suck tonight. Though, actually, this series has a dual screen multiplayer game we could try out later, if you want.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun.”

“Sure, if you enjoy suffering and love to die.”

“I can’t wait.” Reimu winks at _you_ now, and you don’t quite know how to feel about it.

 

When the pizza arrives not much later; Reimu gives you and your pineapple pizza a disapproving look, but you’re too busy eating to respond. It’s not everyday you get to have fresh pizza like this and you fully intend on enjoying every second of it.

After dinner, you offer to let Reimu stay the night, and she looks so adorably delighted that you almost die right then and there. The two of you stay up late playing games, talking, telling ridiculous jokes and laughing over increasingly nonsensical things, until you finally crawl off to bed, letting her curl up beside you.

“Goodnight, Marisa,” she whispers as you turn off the lamp beside your bed.

“Night, Rei,” you whisper back, and she hums quietly, happily.

It seems so impossible to you, knowing that you only befriended her yesterday; you really, truly feel as though you’ve known her for years, and you just can’t explain why. But, at this point, you don’t particularly care about that, only that she’s here and she’s real and she, somehow,  inexplicably, seems to like you just as much as you like her.

You have absolutely no idea what you did to land someone so delightful in your life, but goddamn, you are going to keep at it and not let go of her for as long as you can. It’s the best you can do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mm mm, I wonder why it is the girls feel as though they're so familiar to each other...?
> 
> The first spell Marisa uses comes from page 95 of "A Spell A Day" by Cassandra Eason. Also, they're totally playing Seihou Project games.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! A friend drew Marisa in the outfit I was imagining her in for the first chapter here. Take a look, it's really good.  
> http://spinningensokyo.tumblr.com/post/152694852362/well-this-is-a-surprise-to-absolutely-no-one


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